Automatic take-off mechanism



Jano l J. WEGNER AUTOMATIC TAKE-OFF MECHANISM 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed March l2,

M m w m ATTORNEYS J. WEGNER AUTOMATICy TAKE-OFF MECHANISM Jan. 1, 1924 1,479,346

Original Filed March l2. 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 l f 'f/ I6 f7 l r 16, Z0

/fvvE/vron jala, MW

er (5. :s

` Ammers v J. WEGNER AUTOMATIC TAKE-OFF MECHANISM Original Filed March 12. 1921 5 SheetsFSheet 3 NVENTOH aan. 1,1924 1,479,35

.Lv wEGNER v AUTOMATIC TAKE-OFF MECHANISM Original Filed March 12. 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR A TTORNE YS Patented Jan. 1, 1924.

UNITED s Ars JULIUS WEGNER, OF NEVI YORK, N. Y., ASSIG'NOR TO SIPADONE MACHINE COMPANY,

INC., or' :NEW YORK, N. Y., A conronnrroiv or NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC TAKE-Orr' M'ECHANISM.

Original application filed March 12, 1921, Serial No. 451,856. Divided and this application Vfiled December 7, 1922. seran Nqreoaao.

To all whom 'it may] concern:

Be it known that 1, JULiUs NTEGNER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the borough and county of Queens, city and State of ew York, have'in y'ented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic rfalte-Off Mechanism, of which the following is a specilication.

h/ly invention relates to take-oit mechanisms and has for its object to provide a take-off of novel construction and arrangement and adapted to eiliciently operate in an automatic manner. Another object of my invention is the provision of a novel and efficient means whereby the matter carried by the take-off is received therefrom and stacked, booked, rolled up or otherwise disposed of. The invention will befully de,- scribed hereinafter and the features of novelty will vbe pointed out in the appended claims. The present application is a division of another application filed by me in the United States Patent Oilice on or about March 12, 1921, Serial NO. 451,856.

In the accompanying drawings which, without defining its limits, show an example of the invention combined with a fabriccutting machine, Figure 1 is an elevation or' the take-oft and the receiving means and as much of the fabric-cutting machine as is required to illustrate the operative combination; Fig. 2 is a cross-section, thereof on an enlarged scale', Figs. 3, t, 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views illustrating the operation of the ktake-oit in progressive steps; Fig. T is a plan view of the receiving means and associated elements, certain parts being in section; F S is a booking device which niav be used with my invention: Fig. 9 isv a sirtional view on the line 9 9 of Fig. 1; Fig. l() isa sectional view on the line `1(1 10 of Fig. 9; Figsl ll and 1Q are-sectional views on the lines ll--li and 12-12 respectively of Fig. l and Fig. 13 is a detail view of a cam included in the machine. v

ln the illustrated example the invention is shown in operative combination with cutting machines fof tliertype shown in patent to Bolton No. 9-i1'2,16i cf December ji', 1909, it being understood that this does not define the limits of the invention anduthat onlqjrso much of cutting machine asis necessary to illustrate the'coinbinationis included in the drawing,

As shown in said drawings, 15 represents a racewayv which may be stationary or mounted upon a suitable portion of the ma-V chineframeV so as to be adjustable to differentangles of inclination relatively thereto. A cover 16 is secured upon the raceway 15 and forms therewith a slot 17 extending lengthwiseV of said raceway and locatedfin registry with'the longitudinal groove 18 of .a Aclamp bar 19 slidabjly mounted in a support 2O carried by brackets 21 fastenedin any convenient manner to the raceway 15, said clamp bar 19 being actuated in operative harmony with the remainder of theA cutting machine Vby suitable mechanism. The racew y is provided with a lengthwise extending and preferably undercut guideway 22 in which a cutting device 23 is reciprocated by suitable mechanism, said cutting device including a knife Q4 which is automatically projected through' theslot 17 in a cutting' position during the travel of the cutting device Q3 in one direction and is automatically withdrawn to an inoperative position during the travel of said device in the opposite direction. The parts so far described may be of any suitable construction and maybe actuated in any convenient manner, it being understood that the complete machine includes also a feeding, mechanism, for instance, of the type included in the'Bolton patent hereinbeforeA referred to and whereby the fabric ,c is intermittently ted` downwardly in the space which normally exists between the raceway 15 and the clamp bar 19. c,

The take-olf, in its `illustrated forni, comprises a main tube closed at both Aends andrprovided at yspaced. intervals throughout its length with suctionapertures 26; in the preferred form a series of pins 27 are carried by said Vtube Qin'registry with and projecting outwardly beyond said apertures 26, preferably at a-dow1iward inclination when the take-oit is in` its normal position, showi'i iiiFig.` 2. The main tube 25 is mounted uponV and communicates with a series of branch tubes 28 which, intr-rn, are

connected with and lined upon a tubularY shaft 2 9, the -main tube 25 and branch tribes 28 together constituting a, take-offv frame pivot-ally mounted by means of the shaft-29 and which pre,ferably is' provided witha wirev 'netting 30 or analogous device' forV bridging the spaces between the branch tubes 28, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The tubular shaft 29 is journalled in members 31, secured to and projecting from a power shaft 32, a coil spring 33 or its equivalent being provided upon the tubular shaft 2D for maintaining said take-olfr frame in its normalposition, as shown in Fig. 2 and for returning it thereto. The power shaft 32 is rotatably mounted in bearings 34 dependmg from a channel beam 35 or other suitable support, said channel beam 35 being carried by brackets 36 secured to a convenient portion of the raceway' 15, as shown in Fig. 2. An arm 37 is fixed upon the power shaft 32 and is connected by means of a link 38 with a lever 39 carried by a pivot shaft 40 journalled in a bearing bracket 41 which is fastened to a suitable part of the machine frame. A second lever 42 also mounted upon the shaft is connected by means of a rod 43 with an arm 44 fixed upon a shaft 45 journalled in stationary bearings 46, said arm 44 carrying a roller 47 which projects into the groove 48 of a cam 49, as shown in Fig; 1. The cam 49 is mounted upon a shaft 50 journalled in bearings 51 and which is yrotatably actuated in any convenient manner to cause said cam to function in harmony with the other operative parts of the machine; for instance,.said shaft 50 may carry a gear 52 which meshes with a pinion 53 located upon a counter-shaft 54 rotatably mounted in suitable bearings 55. rlhe counter-shaft 54 in turn may be provided with a gear 56 which meshes with a pinion 57 fixed upon the drive shaft of an electric motor 58 or said counter-shaft 54 may carry a pulley 59 for the accommodation of a driving belt whereby rotative power is transmitted. The counter-shaft 54 may further carry a second gear 60 which, through the medium of a pinion 61, actuates a suction or vacuum pump 62 of any suitable type and operatively connected by means of a hose orthe like 63 with the hollow shaft and with the tubes 28 and main tube 25; suitable means may be provided for automatically cutting off the connection between the shaft 29 and the pump 62 at the moment when it is desired to release the cut fabric, as will appear more fully hereinafter.

The arrangement further includes a latch 64 pivoted at 65 upon a bracket 66 attached to or forming part of the channel beam 35, said latch being maintained in and returned to its normal position in the path of a lug 67 by means of a sp ing 68, the lug 67 being fixed upon the tubular shaft 29. A stop 69 may be provided upon the bracket 66 for arresting the movement of said latch in the direction in which the latte is moved by the action of the spring 68. lt will be understood that the mainftube extends parallel4 with the cuttinglslotr17 which in theY general operation of the niachii'ie extends at au angle of approriimately7 45 g in the preferred arrangement the hollow shaft 29 and 'the shaft 32 are arranged at a common inclination the Vangle of which is somewhat'less than that of the tubel 25l` so that the take-ofil vis constructed in the form shown approximately in Fig. 1, the purpose of this arrangement being more fully brought outv means may be omitted,'in which case thev cut fabric may simply be taken manually from the take-off. In the illustrated example the receiving means is shown in the forni of a table 70 provided with depending brackets 71 pivotally connected by means of rods 72. with arms 73 comprising integral extensions of or fiXed upon sleeves 7 4. The latter, in the illustrated example, are mounted upon tubular shafts 7 5 so as to be slidable lengthwise thereof and are fixed thereon against relative rotation Vin any suitable manner as by means of a key 76; the tubular shafts are lrotatably mounted upon rods 77 between brackets 78 and 79 which are fixed upon the rods 77 and prevent lengthwise movement of the tubular shafts 7 5 relatively thereto. The rods 77 in turn are supported at their outer ends in bearings 8O forming part of or secured to upright standards 81, anyy suitable means as, for instance, set screws 82 being provided for fastening saidrods inplace; the inner ends of the rods 77 are preferablymounted in collars 83 which are pivotally connected at 84 with an upright 85 and with a fork 86 secured upon the frame of the machine at the proper point. rlhis form of pivotal connection permits the table 70 to be adjusted to positions at an angle to its normal position, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 7. The standards 81 and 85 and the. connect-ion 86 are so arranged and proportioned that the table 70 is located at' an inclination which is parallel with .that of the shafts 29 and 32, as

shown in Fig. 1, the angle of this inclina-V tion'being such thatvthe cut sections of fabric .llo

which may be deposited thereon will remain f in place and will not slide downwardly ou said table. v

lilith the described and illustrated method of mounting the table, it is adjustable in directions toward and away from the takeoli' and also to different levels. for the purpose tube more fully described hereinafter, the adjustment being accomplished in any desired manner either automatically or manually. For instance, as shown in the illustratedez-ample, a shaft 87 may be rotatably mounted in the brackets 78 and provided with members 88 rigidly fixed thereon and pivotally connected at 89 with one endA of links 90, as shown in Figs, 9 and'11. The other ends of said links 90 are pivotally connected at 91 with rings 92 rotatably mounted in the annular grooves of heads 93 forming part of or secured to the sleeves 74. In order to facilitate the actuation of the shaft 87 in the desired manner, it may be provided at one end with an operating crank 94, it being understood that the latter is merely illustrative and that it may be replaced by equivalent and other devices. It will be apparent that by operating the crank 94, the members 88 will be caused to exert a pull or a push upon the links 90, this de# pending on the direction of operation, which pull or push will be transmitted to the heads 93 and sleeves 74 and thereby shift the table either toward or away from the take-off. In the illustrated .example the mechanism for adjusting the table 70 to different leve-ls with respect to the take-olf, comprises a shaft 95 journalled in bearings 96 carried by the shafts 77 and the brackets 78 respectively, said shaft 95 preferably being provided at one end with hand wheel 97 or equivalent device whereby rotation of said shaft 95 is facilitated. rlhe lattercairies a bevel gear 98 which meshes with a bevel gear 99 fixed upon a counter-shaft 100 rotatably mounted in the brackets 79 and provided with worm gears 101 arranged to operate worm wheels 102 secured upon the tubular shafts 75. j

Thus, as the hand wheel 97 or its equivalent is operated to rotate theV shaft 95, Athe counter-shaft 100 will be similarly rotated through the medium of the bevel gears 98 f: and 99 and consequently will rotatably actuate the Aworin gears 101. The. latter will transmit motion to the worin wheels 102 and thereby will rotate or rock the tubular shaft upon the rods 77 and also the'sleeves 74 and accordingly will swingthe arms 73 in directions to either raise or lower the table 70 as the case maybe. V

It will be understood that theireceiviiig means in the form so far described is particularly adapted for booking the cut fabric iii stationary stacks and that the book shown in Fig. 8 and consisting of .a back 7i and leaves c of suitable material between whichv the cut fabric a is placed may be used to carry on the booking operation. 1n some cases it may be desired to transfer the cut:

i vevoi belt 103 inav be 1)rovided 'which oasses Y a i l over rollers 104 journalled in bearing blocks 105 and rollers 106`inouiited in bearings 107 at the ends of the table 70, said belt havino its u ner rim travelling in surb i. h e face engagement with the table 0. as shown the table 70 and preferably are adjustable in. said framesl for insta-nce, by means of adjusting screwsl 109'to adjust the tension of said conveyor belt 103. The latter maybe automatically driven Vby applying power Vin any suitable manner to either one of the Vrollers 106 or ysaid belt may be manually actuated by means of a suitable tool applied to the squared end of one of the shafts which carry said rollers 106.

In practice the parts of the take-oft i proper occupy the position shown in Figs. 2V

and 3 in which the fabric a, after having been fed the required distance. is clamped' by theclamp bar 19 against the racewayl and cover 167V the apertures` 26 of the main tube 25 of the take-up frame beingrelatively near to the line along which thev fabric is to be cut and in close proximity to the depending portion of said fabric a.. As soon as the feed of the fabrica. has beenv completed and preferably coincidentally`7 'with the clampingthereof, the action ofuthe vpui-np 62.v

will cause suction to be produced in the main tube 25 which immediately becomes effective to draw the fabric a against the apertures A26 and over the pins 27 where it is held. At lthe completion of .the cut by the cutting device 23 and its. knife`24 through therslot 17 the cam 49, by acting upon the roller 47, causes the arm 44 to move downwardly Vand thus exerts a pull upon the rod Y 43 which is transmitted vto the lever-.'42 andy causes it tok rock the shaft 40 and lever 39 and thus exerts a pull upon the link 3 8.. This i in a downward direction and movedto the position shown in Fig. 4, so that thelcut sec-jf Y tion of fabricY L isv pulled down .and away from the race'wayyit ybeing understood that the clam 3 bar 19 has been nreviousl i movedr Y s Y VL to an inoperative position to release said cut section of fabric. This initial, lineal movement of the takes-off Vframe serves to, release the fabric vfrointlie raceway: if said fabric` because of its t-ackiiiessg` should tend to ad;l

here to the same, rand kat the same time brins the luc 67 iii-to engagement with the Y.

c b t n latch 64. the rocking oi. the shaft o2 is continued, the latch 64,' being statioiiary,V

will exert arestraiiiingforce upon the lug 67 andthei-'eby rock .the 'tubular shaft V29 iii f the'iiienibers 31 andas a result swing :the take-off frame and with-it lthe cut section of fabric (i. to the position" shownby dotted lines in Fig. 4 and iinallyto the position il-.

lustrated in Fig. 5 inwhich'the stock is in..

registry with the receiving table 7 0.. rllhe downward movement of the take-off frame is rather swift asf aresiilt of which vthe imi isa `take-off frame and that of the cut section of fabric a will be sutlicient to overcome the tension of the spring 33' and will thereby complete the pivotal movement of said takeoff framev` which movement is opposed by said spring Furthermore, during the described pivotal movement of the take-off y frame the wire netting will prevent the air pressure from forcing the cut section of fabric a into the spaces between the branch tubes 28 so that said cut section is carried in a substantially tlatcondition to the receiving table 70. it the moment when the takeoff frame reaches the position shown in F ig. 5, the action of the suction pump 62 from the tube 25 is automatically discontinued in any suitable manner whereby the suction in said tube 25 is relieved and the cut section of fabric a is released and deposited upon the receiving table 7 0. As soon as the take- Off frame is relieved of the weight of the cut section of fabric a, said frame will beswung back through a return path by the action of the spring 38, the latch 64 vbeing above the path of the lug 67 at this stage and .offering no interference to this movement,

again fed downward and clamped. The op-V eration of the cam 49 upon the roller 4:7, arm 40, levers 42 and 39 and link 3S causes the power shaft 32 to be rocked inV a return direction and the take-off frame to be restored to its initial positionv` as shown in F ig. 3; in which the suction is again effectivel in the tube 25 and in which the lug (57 isl again above the latch 64. The previously described operation is repeated and successive cut sections of fabric a are removed from the cutting machine in continuous sequence.

lf the cut fabric (f, is to be booked, the device shown in Fig. 8 may be placed upon the table 70 and successive sections of said fabric deposited between the leaves c thereofthe latter'serving to separate said cut fabric sections and to prevent them Vfrom sticking together; 'it will be obvious that the cut fabric sections may be stacked d1- 103, if part of the structure, is gradually' caused to move downwardly by actuating the hand wheel -97 manually or by providing an equivalent actuation of the shaft 95 automatically in any suitable way. In any case, the tubular shaftsand sleevesli will be rocked through the medium of the worm gearing 101 and 102 and will swing the arms 73 in directions to position the uppermost section of fabric a in a plane to properly receive the next succeeding cut section of fabric a; the receiving capacity of the table and the efficiency of the take-off 9i, thus making it possible, if desired, to

stack the cut fabric in a plurality of books located alongside of each other. After the booking has been completed, the conveyor belt 103 may be manually or mechanically operated to convey the book or books away and to make room for the stacking of successive books, i-t being understood that the completed books may be manually removed from the belt 103 or transferred thereby to another conveyor or to any other suitable device. Y

When the fabric is cut on the bias, it is generally preferred to make the cu-t atan angle of 450 to the length of the fabric; as this'angle. if followed in the table 70, provides an inclination upon which it is diliicult to maintain the cut sections of fabric a without slipping, it ispreferred to arrange said table 70 at an angle of inclination wherein this tendency to slip is overcome7 as shown in the drawings. This results, however, in depositing the cut fabric sections a upon the table 7 0 or belt 103 lin positions at angles to the length thereof instead of parallel therewith; this is of no consequence if only a single book or section of fabric or two adjacent books or sections of fabric are to be deposited. If, however, a series lof books o1 a series of sections of fabric a are to be deposited in contiguous relation to each other, it is desirable toVV adjust the table 70 and its associated elements, for instance, to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 7 in which it will extend in parallel relation to the tube 25 when the take-off is in the position of discharge shown in Fig. 5. This is readily possible because of the swivelled or pivoted connections 84 Y The sections of cut fabric a, when arranged as in TEig. 7, utilize the maximum capacity of the table 70 or Abelt 103 with re' spect to width and, generally speaking, are Wound upon a storage roll of suitable type between the strip of material such as linen or the like, it being of course understood that the stacking or booking operation may also be carried out withthe parts adjusted to the dotted position of F ig. 7.

The take-off and receiving means are extremely simple in construction and opera-- tion and automatically or otherwise removes the sections of fabric as soon as the same have been cut, thus not only doing away with the necessity for manually performing this operation but also materially increasing the capacity of the cutting machine. lThe take-off and the receiving means, either individually or collectively, are capable of being readily combined with existing cutting machines without requiring any extensive' alterations or changes therein.

Various changes in the form shown and described may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

l. A take-off comprising carrying means having an initial lineal movement and a subsequent pivotal movement out of the plane of said lineal movement and means for actuating said carrying means.

2. A take-olf comprising carrying means having an initial lineal movement and a subsequent pivotal movement out of the plane of said lineal movement, a spring for reversing said subsequent pivotal movement of said carrying device after it has been relieved of its load and means whereby said carrying ldevice is actuated.

3. The combination of a power shaft, a rotatable tubular shaft rotatably carried by said power shaft, branch tubes carried by and connected with said tubular shaft, an apertured main tube carried by and connected with said branch tubes and together therewith constituting a take-olf frame, suctionproducing means connected with said tubular shaft to produce suction in said main tube and at its apertures, mechanism for tube and at its apertures, mechanism for i rocking said power shaft tok linearly move said take-off frame, a lug fixed upon said tubular shaft and a latch in the path of said lug and exerting a restraining effect thereon as said power shaft is rocked whereby said tubular shaft is independently rocked to pivotally swing said take-off frame out of l its plane of lineal movement.

5. A take-olf comprising acpivotally movable carrying device, means for positively actuating said device throughout the beginning of its pivotal movement, the latter being brought to completion by momentum and gravity and means for effecting a return of said device to its initial positionindependently of said actuating means.

6. A take-off comprising a carrying device having an initial lineal `movement and a subsequent pivotal movement out of the plane of said lineal movement, means for mechanically actuating said device throughout the beginning of said pivotal movement, the latter being brought to completion by momentum and gravity and a spring for effecting a return of said device to its initial position independently of said actuating means.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JULIUS VEGNER. 

